How to Polish a New Cast Iron Pan New Cast Iron VS Old Cast Iron
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- Опубліковано 10 січ 2018
- Join us as We take a New Cast Iron Pan and Polish it and Do a Cooking Comparison with an Old Cast Iron Pan. If you Have tools and skills, this is for YOU. Old Cast Iron VS New Cast Iron
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Going to try this process on my wife.
Great video, this will be my next project.
I got a #8 from my mom as a going away present when I was 18 and leaving the nest. I still have the pan. I'm 64 now.
aaaw, thats really sweet ☺️
And you can use it as a weapon if needed.
Damn, that was circa 1970, so long ago
before you start getting hate comments about sanding cast iron pans I wanted to say it turned out great, I do the same thing to my newer cast iron, I just don't like the texture of the pans, people just don't understand the older pans were smooth and lighter because the factores use to grind them smooth, they say they stopped doing it to help hold the seasoning on the pans but let's face it, they did it to cut cost in production, great job
actually, if your surface is smooth then it will definitely be much more non stick, it will also look a lot better to not have all the texture.
Yes. They sell pans by other companies that come sanded but the cost over $100!
I'd agree with that 100% coming from a foundrymen casting is costly compared to just punched out pans.
@@andrewmcallister4151 Actually smoothing it just gives more surface contact for it to stick more, I mean ya if it's ridiculously ruff then ya knock it down but I think if its a bit rough, then when you season it all the low spots will fill up to the tops of the high spot with seasoning. it will keep the seasoning intact longer. Smooth it all just sits on top easy for the spatula to just scrape it off. just my opinion
Mike Eddleman I grind mine down with a flap disc too. Even smoothed out,
They hold a good seasoning. The more you use it, the better it gets.
This is a good video, thanks. I remember when Lodge sold GOOD products and not just their name. They actually machined the inside of their cookware and seasoning was a breeze. The new stuff is so rough, it takes for EVER to get a good layer of season to smooth it out. IF ever. I've been at this a long time. Learned to nurture cast iron from mom and her mom, who used to cook on cast for 14 people a day, three times a day, every day (on the farm) because it's all they had all those years ago and also from my time in the family restaurant and others where I worked. Here's a tip or two...
If you don't want to use (or don't have) a grill, coat your cast iron with grape seed or peanut oil (high temp oils) and set your oven on 450 and let it go for two hours MINIMUM, then shut it off and let cool down WITHOUT opening the door until it's completely cooled. There will only be a bunch of smoke in the kitchen if you use too much oil or fat!! It only takes a very thin layer... And several of them. At least two for a brand new pan, preferably three if you can work it in when you start cooking.
Then, do it one more time. LOL After the grapeseed/peanut oil sesons... The BEST seasoning is with rendered beef lard, (tallow), which is pure, thin and really melds into the pores. VERY thin coats of rendered fat won't smoke up the house and give an even, slick finish.
When you cook steaks or burgers, etc. in your pan, after removing the food, get it HOT. If there is some sticky bits, use up to a teaspoon of SALT as an abrasive and scrub around with a WOODEN spatula/spoon, etc. and it won't take much scrubbing.
Then just hit it with a quick spray of cold tap water and BAM!!! Your pan is clean. If you got all the sticky stuff clean with the salt scrub, that'll be it. And the salt won't remove or ruin the fresh seasoning job you just did. Then, just dry it with a towel or put on a warm burner for a bit and get it good and dry.
What actually happens with a very well seasoned pan is that the natural polymers in the fats and oils will convert to a natural "plastic" type material. This is going to continue to build, layer after layer, until the bottom of the pan feels like a slick plastic instead of anything metal. It's pretty neat, actually. It's that natural polymer that makes it a truly non-stick pan.
Once the pan has a few good layers of seasoning, you can wash it in the sink with as much hot, soapy water as you want. But you really won't need to... Once you get that slick, plastic type coating going, just add a little cooking oil be some butter, most of the time, after your bacon and eggs or a steak, it just wipes right out with a paper towel. I don't even wash it. There's nothing LEFT to wash and what residue is left behind just adds another layer of season. Especially if you fry a steak or some burgers or bacon.
Other than a screaming infrared grill (that's what they use at a steak house) a really hot cast pan works best on a steak. The secret to a great steak is to finish it in the oven or indirect, high heat. Just sear your seasoned, room-temp steak on the first side for a couple of minutes, no more than three, then flip it and almost immediately transfer the pan into a 350 degree oven for a few minutes, depending on the thickness of the steak. Five minutes is good for a nice, thick rib eye or Porterhouse for med-rare. Less for thinner steaks, longer for more done, etc. You'll get the feel of it fast enough. Then you'll have a steakhouse-like steak and life is good! To finish, I'll de-glaze the hot pan with an ounce or two of red wine or balsamic vinegar (not so much vinegar), scrubbing up the sticky bits, throw in some sliced baby Portabella mushrooms, a good pat of butter and stir on med-high heat until it reduces, then pour that over top of your steak (which should be resting on a warm steak plate *grin*) and you can't tell it wasn't made at the best steakhouse in town. Use some Maitre'd butter (butter with herbs in it) for better results. Oh, and while you're making your sauce in the hot, cast pan, let a pat of that butter melt over your resting steak, as well. Umm.. ya. I know what I'm having for dinner tonight! LOL
You have my mouth drooling!!!
Probably one of the most informative and educational comments I've ever read..two thumbs up for taking the time to share your knowledge with us.👍👍
a lot of people who do not know about cast iron will say your wasting your time. but us old timers no better.. great job my friend
You're absolutely spot on. If you find an authentic old cast iron skillet at a flea market or yard sale, the old ones will be slick smooth on the bottom, and it makes a world of difference. Not only will your food cook better, you can handle it with a spatula and not leave food in the rough texture of the cast iron. Thanks for posting this. Regardless of how you like your surface finish, cast iron is healthier than eating chemical residue from Tefflon/non-stick cookware.
Very good info. I did this last year to a new lodge skillet that my wife bought for us. It cooked as good as some of my Mothers iron that I inherited ( she got them from her Mother ) and that was just the first seasoning ( I fried eggs as a comparison ). Now after a year of use an egg slides around on it like Teflon. Yes indeed, if you have the tools, or money enough to get them, or borrow them, this technique really works well. Thanks for the vid Bud.
Excellent presentation Backwoods...was finally 'bout endeavor into something Wifey has been asking me to do for past 8yrs maybe more: Refinishing our skillets (Primariy the newer ones which were not sanded smooth prior to seasoning). Major thanks Sir to you and your instructional video because without trial and error, you provided me the precise sanding specs info that i needed to know, and to be honest, major contributing factor for the delay with respect to refinishing. Im now actually looking forward to doing this, Hi Ho Hi Ho, its off to Home-Depot I go!!
Looks perfect! I have been doing my new CI pans like this for quite awhile and I think it is time well spent. thanks for posting👍👍
That is impressive!! I never knew you needed to strip the store layer off. Thx for sharing.
Sir, this is the 3rd video I see on that topic and by far, you reach the most beautiful results. Thanks !
My thoughts as well.
This is the video i been hunting for , I sure am glad you made this & showed how & what to do to new Cast iron , thanks a lot for all the work you done & not to drag it out for an hour. Great video ! Thanks again !!
If it was shorter, UA-cam would have never suggested it. All they care about is watchin' time these days, so short videos don't get promoted in this genre. Thanks for watching.
Thanks a million! I was wondering how to smooth out the bottom of a new dutch oven. Your method was what I had in mind, but I was unsure of disc type and grit!.
Back in the day the factories shined up their castings much the same way, grind, sand and file all that iron until it was smooth. Today they pop it out of the mold slap a label on it and ship it. I've done the same to new iron cookware, makes for a much better cooking and cleaning surface.
I got a new lodge 10” pan. Will need to grind down the inside like you did in your video. Thanks for the vid that u did it will really help!
FINALLY! Thank you Sir. Someone who understands how cast iron is supposed to be. The manufacturers used to produce a superior product but have become too cheap and lazy and would prefer to sell an inferior product. Thankfully, I inherited my grandmothers' 100 yr. old pans.
Very nice work. Your finished product looks awesome. I just did this process on my new 12" Lodge as well and it turned out great. I used avacado oil.
Another good video. What I love the most about this was the very end your honesty and saying is it even worth it if you don't have the tools. Keep doing what you're doing
I don't know why I subscribe to your channel! Every video of yours I watch makes me hungry!LOL!
Wade
Thanks so much I've been looking for a good way to make my cast iron look new again and hey keep it up
Not hating so please don't take it like that. Overall your process is sound. As a professional metal buffer (Truck alum) you need to completely take the surface to the grit your working with before going to a finer grit. Anything you leave like pits, bumps or grinding marks will show and will be 10 times as hard to remove with a finer grit.
My old (inherited) WagnerWare are very smooth ... my new Lodges are not. I thought about doing what you did w/ the Lodges ... thanks for the info ... but I'm a procrastinator. So my solution was Stainless Steel Spatulars and 4-5yrs of cooking and scrapping. You are so right, cast iron is soft ... and SS is harder. They are getting smoother by the day ... may take a few more years though ...
I like your pan ... Good Job!!!
That what I do LOL!
Great video and techniques, Thank You!!!
I appreciate this video, i have one of these. I need to do that too mine.. Awesome video. Thanks for the lesson..
THANK YOU!!! Very informative, instructional, and entertaining!!
You confirmed what I'd suspected I'd have to do to get the classic cast iron finish that the old pans are so well-known for. I've seen some people on UA-cam go over their pans with sandpaper, but I never thought they looked smooth enough and using seasoning to make up for a rough finish just doesn't give the same results. I never did like the factory finish on the Lodge I bought new a few years ago. Gotta try this now. Thanks for the great video.
You did a fantastic job on the pan AND the video.
Thanks for making a great video! After finding antique Griswold and Wagner pans in antique shops I realized why my Lodge pans were so hard to use. I have basically done the same thing you did to 12" and a 10" lodge skillets except I removed ALL of the pits from the bottom of the pans and did not polish the sides because I didn't think it was necessary. I don't see any need to go through the extensive "seasoning" process you did because if the pan surface is super smooth and you are using a good fat it will be totally non-stick. "Seasoning" is just the process of filling in the porous holes in the surface of the metal until it becomes smooth. No porous holes = no need for seasoning. I just grind/polish the bottom of the pan down to a mirror, wash it with hot water and soap, throw it on the stove, heat it up until it is good and dry, put a hunk of bacon fat in it and start cooking. Totally non-stick and if necessary I can wash them with soap and water because there is no "seasoning" to wash off. If I do need to wash a pan, just a coating of bacon fat is all that is needed after drying it off. I can take a Lodge skillet from the box to the stovetop in an hour. I have been using these pans for a couple of years and they have performed flawlessly. I have also polished a bunch for relatives and friends and they love them too.
I did this several years ago to my Lodge pan. Made a big difference.
Been thinking about doing this for a while. Thanks.
Nice. I'm going to make smooth my new Lodge. Thanks for the video.
I am so grateful I found this channel. First I did you're squirrel recipe with my boys after their first hunt...the BOMB! Never squirrel could taste that good & be that tender...but then...I found this video.
I've used cast iron for years...I've become so frustrated with the new ones as they're quality of smoothness was so inferior to that of my old ones but somehow I got the impression doing something like this was sacrilege...a cardinal sin of sorts...well buddy, I got the tools, I got me the skillets & me'z gonna go to town! Thanks for posting this and showing me how to make my CI even better! BIG THUMBS U!!
Mind. Blown. I gotta try this. Worth subscribing.
I like the smooth finish also. I might be wrong but you was trying to smooth the cast iron not grind out the pits, like others had said that’s the nature of cast iron in pouring it. I’m not sure why some of the viewers would think you needed to mess with trying to fill the pits? The seasoning will fill in the pits and you won’t even know it. You did a great job on showing us how to get that mirror like finish in a short time. God bless!
Nice job of milling ! I'm going to re-do some of my modern pans to make them like my old pans. I use lard for seasoning.
Home run, I'm impressed how well that skillet took seasoning. BTW, you just created the best of both worlds, a new skillet with thicker walls, yet having the polish, seasoning, and performance of the classics.
Don't stress too much on the pits left on the bottom. I picked up a used Lodge 14" pan. After removing the seasoning I found a 3/32 void in the bottom. Digging around in it to see how deep it was, I actually dug deep enough to make an .045 through hole. I could see light through it. After a couple seasonings, it filled and and just looks like a black spot. It doesn't leak and it's flush with the cooking surface. Great video. Thanks for sharing.
All those saying that the lodge will "smooth out" with use has clearly never used one for a length of time, or not used a new one. The new ones are SOOOO gritty compared to the old stuff. NOTHING is like the old Wagnerware, Griswold, Butterpat, or even Ausion. (Yes I know the latter is a steel pan) My current wagner #9 from the 40's is like a glass surface. Things will literally slide off of it because it's so smooth. I took it down to metal and reseasoned it and it's SOOO much better than my 15 year old Lodge pan ever was. I put two new ones on the stove and put the lodge up in the cabinet.
c allen so sand your lodge and reseason it. I bought my Lodge 20 years ago and sanded it smooth about 15 years ago. Cooks right alongside my grannies 80 year old Wagner ware
I'll take that lodge off you hands if you dont want it?!😂 Can always use another
I bought a Dutch oven cast iron pot and didn’t like the finish and used a die grinder with the scotch brite pads attachment. It took a while but it worked.
I'd just like to congratulate you dude on 17K subscribers. I started watching your channel cause of your older fishing videos and kept watching, never even realize you surpassed 5K! Keep making great content!
I was ready to give you heck for picking up a grinder and sander but the new pan really does look like an old Griswold finish now.
Great job on the skillets. I got a 12" Lodge a few years back and it is my "go to" skillet. Thanks for sharing. BTW, I saw the natty in the background. Take care
I got this man,It’s in the bag.Thanks for sharing
Great job brother, you taught me something!
I think I'll just use mine frequently and let the seasoning build up it's own. I've heard people say that it's not good to grind it down because it blocks all the pores and doesn't absorb oil like it should. Just going to use mine as is. Haven't had any issues with it, but I'm also not trying to use it like a Teflon pan either. It's a great product, and appreciate that it's made in the USA!
Yeah do that. Thyre made to cook in and use. Not as a sanding project. Use with smooth and it down
I strip and polish all my new Lodge. I’ve found that the flap discs dig in a bit to much because the abrasive is so much harder than the iron. What works better for me is a steel wire wheel. Get the twisted strand kind with the thick wires and it works great. Eye and ear protection! A flying broken wire can really hurt.
I use the same method, wire wheels work very well, if used with appropriate safety protection. They are excellent in the bends and corners. They don't gum up when cleaning down old pans to refinish them.
love it ! do mine the same way with a random orbit till they look like a mirror then season 10 times...…. Teflon who ? cool channel man !
Found my standby 12" had a hairline crack, so bought one like you did. I'm going to work it smooth like you did and season it with lard in electric stove at 500 a few times. Ill be back with a nice set of ironware!
I just got a lodge skillet for Christmas this video is perfect
Liked the video especially your advice at the end. $15 pan, $350 in tools:) I have a lightly used 12" Lodge-really rough. I hand sanded it for a few minutes with 100 then 220 grit-that's all I had on hand. That did seem to remove the high points and I wasn't trying to remove the pits from casting. I'm going to season it in the oven with grape seed oil using the Field Company instructions. Wish me luck.
I had a rusty pan that had been neglected by me (had forgotten it was under the sink for several years lol) and I took a cheap angle grinder with a wire brush to it. Got it way better than it ever had been just with maybe ten minutes of that. I agree it ain't gotta be perfectly smooth, just an improvement over how it comes. Don't need a full machine shop to get something that'll work like it should.
How did the seasoning go?
@@takla3210 It worked very well. All I did is remove the high spots(those that tend to grab) and left the rest of the seasoning on. I've since found that all I really needed to do was to lightly sand and do a stove top seasoning which saved a LOT of time and gas! It worked great after that.
Yes I got the Skills & Tools an I cook with cast iron all the Time !! Grandma & my Mother Taught Me !!!!
Very thorough instructions, that was great, thankyou much.
And by the way I have two medium cast iron woks That I purchased and plan follow your video to smooth and season them to improve cooking quality.
The rough surface on sand cast Lodge pan consists of peaks and valleys. If you don't have the time and equipment to remove that much metal just get off the sharp peaks and let the valleys fill in with seasoning. In time a metal spatula will glide across the surface much like a machined pan. I have a well conditioned Lodge pan that comes very close to performing like my Stargazer.
40/80 grit with a powered device like a metabo could easily chew right through the entire pan. I use those types of sanders to remove mill scale off welded surfaces, it's extremely easy to punch through the metal itself. Try a much higher grit such as 120 or even 200-ish.
Found some rudely cast pans at recycle. Pretty much took the same approach and worked out well. Thanks for confirming and encourage folk to search recycle
Please check for lead in a “ find “
Thanks for that concern. I am familiar with the need to test. But a wise alert.
Great video! Very informative.
Nice job. Just purchased 1 12in and 1 grill skillet. 1st time using cast. Season both twice. Hopefully I will get caught up using them all time time.
This is a good video, I found a cast iron pan in the garbage don't know if its old but I assume it is, it was completely covered in heavy rust, but cleaned up nice with my grinder and wire wheel brush been cooking on it for a couple of years now I typically use my propane grill, or a propane single burner also found in the garbage, I have on a couple of times cooked over an open bed of coals but find that the grill and my single burner are easier faster plus I live right behind a firestation and they bust my balls when I burn in city limit.. I have found several since mine which I clean up and give as "seasoned" gifts (but every person I have given them too has never used them) even though they rave on the stuff I cook in em. Made a killer pork roast, with fried cabbage and rice yesterday.... Im looking for a dutch oven but haven't been that lucky... I checked mine out looking for a name but cant find one on it but it has a really cool lid that has little nipples all on the inside of it...
If the smoke ring on the bottom has 3 notches in it, that would be made by Lodge. Their lid has those basting nipple also. Thanks for watching.
I love my Dremel multi tool high speed rotary tool. It is put to so many different uses in my model studio and around the house. I use a lot of tungsten carbide bits for carving.
I have a bunch of lodge stuff and the only one i REALLY think need polished are the griddle i use for pancakes and stuffn and the wok. Id like those two to be smoother. Everything else seems to work fine with good amount of seasoning.
Thanks much for the demo. Here in West Tn., the old cast iron sells for $3-10 each at flea marts. Lodge is in east Tn.
I'd like to do this to a couple of my newer pieces of my collection that are still somewhat rough
This is the final manufacturing step that most cast iron manufacturers don't do. They leave it to the customer. I think I would just do the bottom surface of the pan sinces that's where most of the cooking occurs. I don't have your patience or the artistic ability to do the sides. I have a flat cast iron griddle that I did this on. It's a major improvement. After seasoning, it's a much better non-stick surface than anything on the market.
Thanks so much for clearing up some confusion for us. My husband took the grinder to our Lodge skillet at the shop where he works. Glad I decided to use grape seed oil, like you recommended. We seasoned in our indoor oven, which took three times in the "recommended" temp of 325. Might have been better at a higher temp like you recommended. Who knew? Thanks for all your info!
Fascinating information and demonstration. Like the 'best' topics, this one invites plenty of thought and discussion! I have old and new Lodge cast iron pans and I have a Wagner pan. Personally, I prefer the old-style, time-consuming smooth ground Lodge interior to the new 'bumpy' ones. Some thinking has it that the bumps and hollows raise the product off the bottom of the pan a useful bit to allow pan-searing instead of just fat frying. I agree with you about using grapeseed oil: very high smoking point and no discernible extra flavor. I also use pure beeswax to season my blue steel Belgian pans and my cast iron pans: lower smoking point but slippery results.
Good video. I also prefer smooth and have more CI than I need, but that's another topic. What I do is when I am warming up my BBQ gas grill, I pick a few pans that need a tune up, give a micro oil and stick them in the cold grill, close it up and crank it up til ready to cook. Pull them out, pile on heat proof table and cover with folded blanket to cool slowly. Pile so no cooking surfaces are touching anything. Will leave some in if I can cook on one side and let them cool down right in the grill when done. Really spiffs them up.
I have got to try your seasoning method. Those pans turned out awesome!
I So got the skills! Whoooot! Can't wait to get to it!
Great job!
Excellent video 👍🏼👍🏼
Yup, did the same with my brand new Ronnie Sunshines skillet, took the power tools to it before I'd even used it.
It's the right thing to do.
Refurbished a rusty dutch oven the same way.
Lodge could solve a lot of arguing between its customers, by making a smooth version and a porous version for people to buy what they want
People would pay twice a much for a smooth version. Thanks for watching.
@@BackwoodsGourmetChannel , people are paying five times as much for new, smooth cast iron right now. Why Lodge won't step up is beyond me!
what to do? Shave or not to shave for the next hot date?
@@BackwoodsGourmetChannel I would!!
@@robertkattner1997 not to shave, that is the answer
I use angle grinder from Harbor Freight for ( 15 bucks) with 50 grit on bad spots but mostly a air powered 3 inch DA sander with 320 grit then season a bunch of times in the oven with flax seed oil. I only use cast iron and nothing sticks.
A drop or two of oil to coat and a little butter and omelettes slide around. Love it
I might do this if I bought a used one at a thrift shop but new, the sandy texture works fine. I do scrub off the factory seasoning and do my own.
I bought a Lodge cast iron Dutch oven about a year ago and when I received it, I was a bit disappointed at just how heavily textured the surfaces were right out of the box. Definitely not the way cast iron was about 20 years back -- at least the ones we used to cook on in our house. :(
I enjoy you video's I do a bit of camp cooking this one is good for a northern favorite. Cranberry Chicken
2 lbs. chicken breasts
1 can cranberry sauce
1 cup A Salad Dressing(French is good, Italian is good, Russian is good)
1/2 package Onion soup mix
1 Tbsp corn starch
Place ingredients in a baking dish and bake at 350 for 1 hour
Serve over rice
I cook this in a camp dutch oven
Thanks for the video. I recently came into 3 new lodge skillets and they're rougher than a cob compared to my old skillets. I'll try out your method. Do you ever use the old long handled steel skillets. I've used them over a wood fire and over a propane camp stove and found them to be great for frying. They're light and you can handle them over a fire without gloves.
Check out the channel page and subscribe to see over 300 more videos on the subject, including the carbon steel pans.
I bought a new Lodge 10" skillet about 2 years ago, I am still learning tricks and tips on how to use it. But i season it everytime after i use it and some foods still stick pretty good. I have found that if i cook eggs on a higher temp then they dont stick nearly as bad. I just recently found that the food is even less likely to stick if the pan is smooth than rough. The video is awesome and I will have to try this with mine to see if it helps any.
Your food will be much less likely to stick if you allow your pan and oil to preheat properly. You'll want to start heating up the pan WITHOUT oil. Then when the pan is hot, add in the oil and wait for the oil to heat up. Then once the oil is nice and hot you can add your food. Following this procedure of proper pre-heating goes a long way toward preventing sticking. It's coincidentally why your eggs don't stick on high heat, because it brings it up to temp before they're done. You can get that same effect on medium or low so long as you preheat properly first.
@@iPodTouchNinja5 the lodge pans come with a rough finish and that doesn't help not sticking. I've tried turning my heat up and it kept sticking until I sanded the pan flat and reseasoned
All cast iron pots & pans should come smooth like that; what are these companies thinking having porous cookware. Good job fixing it.
Love my cast, good job sir.
I like your work , thanks
yes , that is what i am talking about....good job... the pan looks good !.......my dad suggested i do this years ago , but i never got around to it....he showed me some of his old wagner , and other old pans , they were smooth as glass on the cooking surface , and weighed about half as much as the lodge.......i have aquired a lot of the new lodge cast iron cookware over the last few years and i think i will give them the ( backwoods gourmet ) treatment......i just came across your channel yesterday , so i have a lot of watching to do........thanks , allen.
Welcome and thanks for watching. We have much more over on the channel page.
Nice job. I love the cast iron skillet. 💝👍👏😊
Great information thank you very much...☮️
My great grandfather cast his own cast iron cookware & they were / still are smoother than babies behind on the inside. he had a special tool he used on them while they were still hot - I wish they were still made the 'old' way
I have no idea why people think they need to sand down the interior of a lodge skillet. The texture has nothing to do with whether the food sticks or not. I bought the exact same pan about two years ago and now I couldn't make food stick to the interior if I wanted to. Wash it in hot soapy water, put the initial cure on it, and then just take care of it. Simple.
Opinions on cast iron are as varied and heated as opinions on guns. Ha!
I use sanding flap disks on cast iron as well, though I stop right before a mirror finish. I realize - though I have a cabinet of really nice steel pans - that I pretty much use only my cast iron (unless I boil water for soup or pasta.)
On a side note: I love that pan with legs you have hanging on the wall.
Nice vids.
i would recommend washing the pan between polishing and seasoning.
I did a new lodge like you did. I took it down to white metal. And seasoned it. It now cooks like a dream. Great job.
That's much better work than I did on mine lol. I still improved my Lodge quite a bit. The pre-seasoning isn't good enough.
Do you turn your skillets upside down on the grill to season them. I noticed you had one upside down and one right side up. Great video and I had been wanting to use my grill as well for seasoning so this was very helpful
That was very informative I can see from the stack of cast iron pans I have I've got about 3 days work cut out for me LOL
I’ve done this to all of mine. Figured it out when I was younger. New pans felt like Braille and everything stuck to them.
Spoonerisms are great!
Any tips on smoothing the bottom and keeping it flat? I also like to use my cast iron pan on my induction stovetop but after a few dozen uses the cooktop is noticeably scratched.
I always use the cast iron pan to cook meats inside.
If the bottom was a bit smoother I don't believe it would scratch the cooktop at all.
You could sand that bottom in the same way. Good luck and let us know how it works.
Lodge intentionally leaves the surface rough on new pans because it's easier for them to preseason the pan in the factory. A pan with a polished, smooth surface is actually more difficult to season and doesn't readily accept the oil like a rough surface with tiny pores.
My job requires me to bring bare metal to mirror finish. Your approach was brutal as hell but I’m gonna do mine. I won’t worry about the sides because I rarely get stuff sticking to sides. Thanks
A mirror finish doesn't work with this process. You need the fine scratches to help hold the seasoning, just like paint. Thanks for watching.
I think I am gonna pick up a Field pan. They look awesome
Tell them you heard about it here on the Backwoods gourmet Channel. They do not sponsor me, but I would like them to.
I have 2. A #8 & #10. Well worth the price. Fantastic pans.
I also sand and polish my new ones.I do minimum seasoning of them because after I use them i scrub them with a steel sponge and add just a bit of hot oil. I don't know if this is the right method but it works for me.
Just to clarify my previous comment. I love the channel and there's no wrong way as long as you know how to use cast iron.
you got it man, I polished my wagners's chinese pans after years of garbage food sticking and such. they are better than ever from new and I will do from now on with all cast iron pans.